Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

LA Sheriff Still Arresting for Sodomy

Ten years ago the Supreme Court struck down state laws against sodomy in Lawrence v Texas, but word of that ruling seems not to have reached Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The sheriff there is still arresting people under that law even though the local prosecutor won’t press charges.

Police officers from the Sheriff’s office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have made at least a dozen arrests of gay men since 2011 using an anti-sodomy law despite it being struck down ten years ago.

Arrests have been made as recently as July, with gay men being charged with “attempted crimes against nature” for discussing having consensual sex in a private place with an undercover police officer.

The most recent was made on 18 July when a deputy sheriff approached a 65-year-old man in a car, denied being a police officer, and after moving to a park bench, discussed having “some drinks and some fun”, at his apartment…

According to the report, District Attorney Hillar Moore III, said his office had not prosecuted in any of the cases, because it had found that no crime had been committed.

The Sheriff’s Office’s intentions are all good,” said Moore. “But from what I’ve seen of these cases, legally, we found no criminal violation.”

The prosecutor is apparently going to meet with the sheriff to make sure they understand the law.

Update: The sheriff has now apologized and said his office will no longer enforce this law:

On Monday, Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux III issued a statement apologizing “to anyone that was unintentionally harmed or offended by the actions of our investigations.” The sheriff said that he had instructed his employees to no longer use “this unconstitutional law,” and that he was conducting “a comprehensive evaluation of undercover operations made by our deputies and will make changes to ensure better supervision, training and guidance.”

Comments

Didn’t give a shit, saw a chance to publicly humiliate and maybe even jail gay men, took it, got spanked by county council or whoever his employers are, and made the public perp walk so he could keep his job.

Subtext of statement: “I was not aware up until this time that my actions were creating a public, politicial liability to some in the DA’s office who may seek political office in the future. I sincerely apologize to them. I’m sorry I was caught and that my being caught reflected poorly on you. From now on, the officers under my watch will use more subtle ways to be bigots so that our actions cannot be plausibly traced back to you.”

That’s so cute, machintelligence. Police don’t follow laws, they lead laws. Since they don’t have to follow them, it’s not illegal when they do it. Cf. evictions of the wrong homes, breaking and entering and threatening with guns and killing pets at houses they didn’t mean to raid, people killed by foolish cops starting high-speed pursuits over nothing, people killed by tasers, defenceless men shot in the back while lying on the ground under a pile of cops, warrantless wiretaps, extraordinary rendition, “enhanced interrogation”, stop’n’frisk, et c., et c., et c..

Gotta fight them tare-ists with both hands free, right? Can’t let ‘em achieve their aim of not taking into account the weight of the container. It’s anti-American.

Well, he could just go to having the undercover officer offer to have sex in a public bathroom in a park (which is illegal in most jurisdictions) rather than in the privacy of a home. Of course, he should then also have a female undercover make the same offer to straight men… just to be fair. It’s entrapment in both cases, but what the hell. At least it wouldn’t be targeting on sexual orientation grounds. Wanna bet there are a lot of straight guys who would take the offer of sodomy on public property? He could really up his arrest records by being unbiased.

Here’s the real harm: Even though the Sherriff had to apologize and even though charges were dropped, the arrests are still on the records of the men he entrapped. When job applications ask, “Were you ever arrested?” they must answer “Yes: Crimes Against Nature. Stature was out of date and charges were dropped.” So they’re fucked.

If they don’t, then the criminal background check will report that information. So they’re fucked for lying.

There needs to be lawsuit that extracts tons of money and expunges the criminal records. The sheriff needs to be arrested and jailed for malfeasance, assuming it’s a crime for LEOs in LA.